I recall an image of her placing flowers on the grave of Bessie Smith. She was hip to her roots. Bessie and other blues singers of that era would sing at tent revival meetings so the experience you describe is also perhaps rooted in that lineage.
Janis definitely appreciated her roots in that tradition, and I think I recall reading that when she was a kid, she listened hard to that earlier generation of blues singers. But ultimately, something unique did emerge, I think.
I recall an image of her placing flowers on the grave of Bessie Smith. She was hip to her roots. Bessie and other blues singers of that era would sing at tent revival meetings so the experience you describe is also perhaps rooted in that lineage.
Janis definitely appreciated her roots in that tradition, and I think I recall reading that when she was a kid, she listened hard to that earlier generation of blues singers. But ultimately, something unique did emerge, I think.